Stayed locally in The Warren B&B which I highly recommend, and ate in the Bulls Head in the village on the Friday night before heading to the park on the Saturday.
Got into the car park for 9.15 and walked over to the monorail which amazingly had very little queue. Loads of wasps in the monorail station however, could do with some traps in there. Got to the entrance plaza at 9.30 and waited just 15 minutes before they opened the main gates.
Headed over to WM first thing which was showing 20 minute queue, but, from looking at it from the entrance we could see it would be double that. Stopped half way through queuing on the lift hill for 10 minutes. Managed to get very back row seats which just feels awesome, like a different ride altogether. Bottom of lift hill was very juddery going up which I havent felt before.
Next up was Duel, same old same old but we bought a digipass for the day so wanted to get plenty of photos! Nothing changed in Duel and could really do with a refurb now.
On to Galactica which was showing a 30 minute queue which was spot on. My partner hadnt been on this before and she loved it. Pity they dont remove the straps on bags from the seats now though as they look so tatty in the ride photos.
Was close to lunch time now and the park and queues were getting very busy. Walked through the gardens past the Pagoda fountain over to Rita. Gardens actually looked quite neat but all the new fences just spoilt some of the views. Rita was showing 70 minutes so we used a fast track. Annoyingly we still waited 30 minutes due the dire dispatch times and it running on just 1 train. Staff looked really fed up - no doubt they were getting lots of complaints. Thirteen was down most of the day so headed over to get something to eat from Woodcutters.
Didn't have to queue to get in which was surprising given how busy the park was. Food in here is still pretty decent and big portions. Lunch over and headed to Oblivion, again with a 80 minute queue so used a fast track and walked straight on.
Spinball next, not done this for a while and forgot how much fun it was. Unfortunately the on ride camera didnt work for us so couldnt get a pic. Next up was rapids, again, 80 min queue so used a fast track and got straight on. Boring as hell through with the waterfalls still off. I dont see why they cant turn them back on now given the boats have gates and higher sides to them???
Duel again which now had a small queue and finally Nemesis front row, with a 70 min queue we used fast track and waited 20 mins. Still love this ride.
Walked the Woodland walk over to ATH and then sat in the gardens with a beer. In the evening we headed back to the hotel and ate in the Secret Garden. Food and service was excellent to be fair. ATH however was so quiet, loads of empty seats around the ship at 9pm, and Splash was even quieter, which, for a Saturday night and the park being so busy (to the extent people were having to park on the fields) was quite surprising. Maybe people are now refusing to pay the high prices to stay here.
We had a good day however, the nice weather helped, but the fast track tickets were essential else our ride count would have been less. We left the park at 4.30pm and they had extended it to 6pm so we could have got in another 1 or 2 rides if we really wanted to.
But, overall, a very enjoyable day, and even the skyride was open!
Got into the car park for 9.15 and walked over to the monorail which amazingly had very little queue. Loads of wasps in the monorail station however, could do with some traps in there. Got to the entrance plaza at 9.30 and waited just 15 minutes before they opened the main gates.
Headed over to WM first thing which was showing 20 minute queue, but, from looking at it from the entrance we could see it would be double that. Stopped half way through queuing on the lift hill for 10 minutes. Managed to get very back row seats which just feels awesome, like a different ride altogether. Bottom of lift hill was very juddery going up which I havent felt before.
Next up was Duel, same old same old but we bought a digipass for the day so wanted to get plenty of photos! Nothing changed in Duel and could really do with a refurb now.
On to Galactica which was showing a 30 minute queue which was spot on. My partner hadnt been on this before and she loved it. Pity they dont remove the straps on bags from the seats now though as they look so tatty in the ride photos.
Was close to lunch time now and the park and queues were getting very busy. Walked through the gardens past the Pagoda fountain over to Rita. Gardens actually looked quite neat but all the new fences just spoilt some of the views. Rita was showing 70 minutes so we used a fast track. Annoyingly we still waited 30 minutes due the dire dispatch times and it running on just 1 train. Staff looked really fed up - no doubt they were getting lots of complaints. Thirteen was down most of the day so headed over to get something to eat from Woodcutters.
Didn't have to queue to get in which was surprising given how busy the park was. Food in here is still pretty decent and big portions. Lunch over and headed to Oblivion, again with a 80 minute queue so used a fast track and walked straight on.
Spinball next, not done this for a while and forgot how much fun it was. Unfortunately the on ride camera didnt work for us so couldnt get a pic. Next up was rapids, again, 80 min queue so used a fast track and got straight on. Boring as hell through with the waterfalls still off. I dont see why they cant turn them back on now given the boats have gates and higher sides to them???
Duel again which now had a small queue and finally Nemesis front row, with a 70 min queue we used fast track and waited 20 mins. Still love this ride.
Walked the Woodland walk over to ATH and then sat in the gardens with a beer. In the evening we headed back to the hotel and ate in the Secret Garden. Food and service was excellent to be fair. ATH however was so quiet, loads of empty seats around the ship at 9pm, and Splash was even quieter, which, for a Saturday night and the park being so busy (to the extent people were having to park on the fields) was quite surprising. Maybe people are now refusing to pay the high prices to stay here.
We had a good day however, the nice weather helped, but the fast track tickets were essential else our ride count would have been less. We left the park at 4.30pm and they had extended it to 6pm so we could have got in another 1 or 2 rides if we really wanted to.
But, overall, a very enjoyable day, and even the skyride was open!
